


Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow

by abrightgrayworld



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, So here you go!, Wrote this for a Secret Santa a couple of years ago and never got around to posting it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 08:20:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8320705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abrightgrayworld/pseuds/abrightgrayworld
Summary: Katara meets him on Christmas Eve.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a gift for korrablake on Tumblr for a Secret Santa a couple years ago, and I meant to post it here but I forgot. :P My writing has changed a bit recently, and I haven't edited this, so excuse anything you find questionable. :D Hope you guys enjoy!

Katara meets him on Christmas Eve.

She and Sokka are sitting on a bench at the park. The world is covered in white, the wind carrying swirling snowflakes around. Katara smiles, feeling the cold air nip at her face; she loves winter.

Sokka, on the other hand, is grumbling. “Why’d you make me come out here?” he complains, crossing his arms. His ridiculous ponytail is flipping around in the wind, and it smacks him in the face. He grunts, shooting her a glance when she laughs.

“It’s too perfect not to,” she argues. “Besides…we used to do this all the time, remember? We would never miss out on the chance to spend time outside in the snow.”

“Yeah, but that was before—” Sokka flinches and hastily changes his words. “—I mean, we were only kids back then.”

Katara is silent for a second. “We’re still only kids, you know,” she murmurs. Sokka glances at her, his lips turning down in a frown.

“It doesn’t really feel like it anymore,” he replies.

And there it is again, that suffocating sadness that has surrounded them for the last year. Katara fights back against the tears in her eyes. This always, always, happens. They can never go back to what they used to be, happy and carefree, with both their parents in their lives and no sadness.

“I’m sorry, Katara,” Sokka says. He sounds so tired, so much older than his seventeen years. There’s no trace of his usual goofiness or laughter in his voice. He’s been forced to take over the role of leader in the house since Mom died, always the one to comfort Katara in the nights after the accident. Their father is in the military, so he’s never home. They’re lonely, the two of them, but Katara knows that it’s worse in some ways for Sokka, who never truly got the chance to grieve.

No one should have to grow up so fast.

Katara wipes her eyes. “It’s fine,” she says, standing up. “Let’s go home.”

Sokka falls into step beside her. They're quiet as they walk.

Suddenly, Sokka tilts his head, eyes narrowing. “Hey, do you hear that?” he says, face screwed up in concentration.

“What?”

“Listen!” Sokka says insistently. “It sounds like someone…yelling.”

And then Katara hears it, too. It sounds frantic, hurried…and it’s getting closer.

“Katara!” her brother shouts. She turns around just in time to see a gigantic shape flying at her. In a matter of minutes, she is face-down in the snow, a heavy heap of fur holding her down. She can hear Sokka trying to pull the creature off her.

“Oh my gosh!” a new voice says—probably the person yelling from before, Katara thinks. The weight on her is lifted and she gets a chance to look at her attacker.

She finds herself facing the biggest, fluffiest dog she has ever seen in her life.

“Bad dog! Bad Appa,” the dog’s owner scolds, his back to Katara. “How many times have I told you not to run off?”

Appa gives a grunt and flops, his head resting on his owner’s shoes, eyes deep brown and pleading. The owner sighs and crouches, petting his dog’s head. “It’s alright, buddy. I can’t stay mad at those eyes.”

Sokka, who has been spluttering incoherently for the last few minutes, snaps out of it. “Hey! Your dog could have killed my sister!”

“Oh, no, Appa wouldn’t hurt a fly,” the owner—a teenager, Katara realizes—says. “Just look at him!” He makes his way over to Katara and holds out a hand. She moves to grab it and sees his face for the first time.

Mischievous grey eyes and a wide smile greet her. HIs expression is of such pure happiness that it nearly takes her breath away.

“Sorry about that,” he says, pulling her to her feet in an easy move. “Appa isn’t usually so energetic. I don’t know what got into him.”

“It’s fine,” she murmurs, still stunned. “He’s, um, he’s really cute.”

“Isn’t he?” The teenager beams and clicks his tongue, calling Appa over. “Here, meet him properly. Appa, this is…” He looks at her, asking.

“Katara,” she replies.

“That’s a very pretty name,” he says, another smile appearing on his face. Katara fights down a blush and glares at Sokka, who is miming gagging behind the teenager, while frowning simultaneously. She doesn’t begrudge him too much; at least Sokka isn’t sad and gloomy right now.

“Appa, this is Katara. Katara, this is Appa. You are now introduced.” He jumps to his feet and mimics a salute. Katara giggles and bends to pet the dog properly.

“What’s your name?” she asks casually, running her hands through Appa’s thick white fur.

“Aang,” he says. “I’m new to this city. Just moved here!”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she says, standing up again. They’re almost the same height; Aang is shorter by a few centimeters.

“Yeah. It’s…really nice to meet you.”

And then the two of them stand there and grin at each other like idiots, both blushing from reasons other than the colds. Katara feels like smacking herself.

“Okay,” Sokka drawls, not oblivious to what’s happening. Katara can almost see his protective instinct kick into gear. “Good talking to you, Aang, but we have to go.”

“Sokka! Don’t be rude! No, we don’t have anywhere to be. Aang, if you want, we could show you around! The city looks gorgeous on Christmas Eve.”

“Gran Gran wants us back home,” Sokka hisses, eye twitching.

“Gran Gran said that we’re teenagers and we should be staying out later. I’m going to take her up on it.” Katara crosses her arms and scowls back, aware of the uncomfortable look on Aang’s face.

“Katara, what has gotten into you? You don’t even know this kid!”

“Um, I’m fifteen,” Aang interjects softly, and then wilts under Sokka’s stare, turning his gaze to the dog at his feet.

To tell the truth, Katara has no idea what is getting into her, what possesses her to offer to show around someone she just met. All she knows that something about Aang makes her happier than she’s been in so long. Maybe it’s too crazy to say that about someone she’s literally just met, but it’s true. The minute she had looked at Aang’s cheerful face, she’d felt lighter. Freer.

“Nothing has gotten into me. It’s just…I want to show a new friend around. When was the last time we went around the city, anyway?” Aang’s face lights up at Katara’s first sentence; he stares at her in a strange mixture of joy and disbelief.

“Wow, really?” Aang says. “That’d be really nice. I don’t have many friends around here.” He sneaks a look at her. “Especially not as pretty as you.”

Sokka’s frown deepens dangerously, and Aang flounders. He hurriedly adds, “And not as pretty as you, either, Katara’s brother.”

There's a moment of silence.

Then, Katara starts to laugh, and Aang joins her. Sokka fights to keep his frown in place, but it’s a losing battle, and he dissolves into laughter as well after a valiant fight. They collapse on the snow, grabbing at their sides, howling.

“I’m Sokka,” her brother tells Aang as they stand up and brush themselves off. Katara recognizes it for the welcome that it is. “Yeah, come on. We’ll show you around.”

Any remaining hesitation on Aang’s face melts away. Without any inhibition, he falls into step between the two of them, Appa’s leash wrapped around one hand.

“I can feel it. This is going to be the start of a great friendship,” he proclaims.

As his gloved fingers accidentally brush hers and they both turn pink, Katara thinks that one day, it might even be more.


End file.
